


Never too Old for an Adventure

by RoosterHenningway



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-27
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-16 17:40:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5834731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoosterHenningway/pseuds/RoosterHenningway
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Too old to no longer not have a Job Thomas decides to head out on his own Pokemon adventure instead. Just add water and watch as he and his new found friends grow together in this exciting new take on Nintendo's world of Pokemon. </p><p>Cheers</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Clownin out of Town

It was a lovely day, there was a nice breeze pushing the tall grass that grew outside my home. The sun was up but it wasn’t too hot, and clouds were drifting lazily across the sky. Today was a good day to start my travels, "call of the wild baby," i chuckled to myself. I had finally saved up enough money doing odd jobs and working at the town market to afford some travel necessities for the trip, you don't make much money on the couch. All I had to do was buy a poke-ball and it would be time to go. I didn’t live all that close to the professor Magnolia, so I had to catch my first Pokémon the hard way.  
I rode my bike into town with my money and went over to our shop. The clerk greeted me kindly and I exchanged my last bit of cash for a ball. The cold metallic feeling of the ball sitting in my hand made me giddy with excitement, I was gonna leave this chill little place behind and become great enough to get some land of my own. The only thing left for me to do was catch my new partner, and I had always had a fondness for bug types so I knew just where to look. I grabbed my bike and headed out for the woods just East of the edge of town. The trees towered in the distance, barring us from the rest of the world, now they would be my gateway into it.  
I arrived at the entrance, around mid-day. two great oaks grew strait up, their branches so thick the sunlight had a hard time getting past. My heart was starting to flutter in my chest as I peered around the branches inside looking for wayward legs or antennae. Just then I heard a growl from inside, and I jumped about three feet into the air. I got low to the ground and tightened my focus, slowly scanning my zones and making sure every bit of forest I could see I did see. “rrrrooooaaarrrhh,” there it was again, and it sounded even closer. I could hear my heart in my ears and moves slightly to get onto my toes in case I need to jump and dodge an attack, whatever was growling, it sounded angry. After a few moment of silence I thought about whether or not it left, and my mind continued to drift. After a few more minutes of waiting I decided it had left, so I stood back up and looked at my pack. In my haste I had thrown it on the ground so I went to go pick my things back up, and caught sight of the lunch I had packed. That’s when It hit me, I felt completely stupid and I was really happy nobody was there to witness what had transpired. I heard the growl again, but it wasn’t an angry Pokémon, it was my own stomach.  
I sat down and opened up my lunch box, and peered at the food I grabbed before I left my house for good. Some hard bread, dried meat, some cheeses, a jar of belue berry jelly, and a can of lemonade. I had skipped breakfast this morning so it was no wonder I was starving. I ravenously dug into my food, and as I ate I listened to the sounds of the day around me. The grass was rustling and the breeze from earlier had calmed down a bit, but it was still nice and chill. I could hear birds chirping in the distance, and a formation of Swablu and Altaria flew by high in the sky. I kind of dozed off like that after my meal, and laid there for the rest of the afternoon. I woke up and the sun was already going down, before I had even entered the forest! I figured I had about an hour of sunlight left, so took off at a brisk jog to cover as much ground as I could. i left the sky behind as i ran into the dimness of the woods.  
After about half an hour of looking it was getting darker and darker, I had grossly underestimated the amount of searching time I really had. I hadn’t had much luck so far, finding bit and pieces of shells and webbing here and there but no actual Pokémon. I decided I’d just have to camp out and look tomorrow. I gathered some firewood and made a soup out of some pecha berries I had found. i stewed it with some of the meat, and well, it tasted wierd. While I let the food digest I sat by the fire and listened around. It was scary how near silent it was. I could hear distant chirps and clicks every so often, but you could tell either there was nothing within a mile of me, or everything that was knew I was there. Putting those thoughts aside I unrolled my sleeping bag, stretched and crawled into bed. I let the fire die out and laid there in silence. I gazed up out of the leaves above me and saw stars, more stars than I had ever seen before. They wound and twisted all across the sky, created the most amazing pictures that hung in my mind as I drifted away into a deep sleep. That night I dreamed of all kinds of things. I dreamt of the Pokémon I’d one day own, like a Pinsir and a Scizor, maybe a Vespiquen and who knows what else. I also dreamt of the stars, I was flying through them, so fast the only thing I saw was streaks of light, and to my right was my father. His thick hairy arms were spread like wings, and his plaid flannel shirt did little to cover his gut. We didn’t talk to each other, we just kind of stood there, floating in the infinity. He put his hand on my shoulder and told me to wake up.  
I awoke with a start and jerked up, I rubbed my eyes and opened my ears to see if I could hear anything, and at last I did. There was a crunching sound coming from over by the tree I laid my pack up against. I wormed my way out of my bag and sat crouched by the embers of my fire. I closed my eyes and listened again and there it was, I could still hear the crunching; whatever it was it was munching away at my food. I could hardly see anything in front of me , but I knew the tree was about ten good steps from where I was. My heart was beating hard and fast, and the look of intensity on my face must have been fierce to see. I took one, two three steps towards my goal. Suddenly the chewing stopped- I froze. I heard it chattering its mandibles and its legs rustled the flaps of my bag. Suddenly I heard it cry softly and start to walk away. But my bag fell over and must have hit it because it let out a sharp cry of pain after that. I knew this was my chance, it had gotten itself tangled in the straps while it ate my food. I flew forward and reached my hands out. I wrapped my hands around what I thought was the abdomen and heard it squeal as I fumbled through my bag for my pokeball. I felt an intense pain run up my left arm and up to my left shoulder went numb. I heard the Pokémon wrest itself free from the straps and run away. He was not getting away from me. I stood up and focused my eyes as hard as I could. I felt a wind whip up around me and the leaves rustled intensely, I drew my right arm back and tightened up my grip. I chucked the ball with all my might and heard it whizzing off into the distance. Seconds ticked by, and my whole body was sweating. But I wasn’t done yet. CRACK. After a few second of silence, I heard the ball connect with something, and when I heard the Pokémon’s cry of pain I knew I had him.  
I saw the flashing red light of the ball trying to contain the beast and I ran towards it, stumbling over wayward roots and debris. I had to be there to collect the ball if it didn’t work. I was nearly upon it and I tripped, cursing loudly in the darkness and my jaw hit the ground hard. I was really dizzy and realized that the poison bite that had numbed my arm had now seeped into my neck and left leg. I laid on the ground panting and looking for the ball. I didn’t see the flashing light and I didn’t hear the ball moving around anymore. But I did hear something else. It had been silent before, but now I could hear the loud clicking of hundreds of bug Pokémon all around me, it almost sounded like applause. The wind that had kicked up before finally blew away the clouds and the starlight shown down on the small clearing I was in. I laid on the ground, arm outstretched, mere inches from my prize, and all around me was the bugs of the forest. They Kriketots and Wurmples lined the trees, and Combee and Mothims hung in the air. More Pokémon than I had ever seen in one place were now there watching me, and when a group of Weedle carried my pack into the clearing I knew they meant me no harm. I used my good arm to reach into the bag and I grabbed some of the leftover berries I had. They were half eaten and bruised, but I hoped and prayed I had one that could cure the poison afflicting me before I fainted.  
After I finished them off I slowly started to regain control of the rest of me. And I sat up to thank the bugs for helping me. A lot of the smaller looking bugs had noticeable bruises and scratches all over them, and I assumed the reason they were so happy with me was because I caught whatever had beat on them; I must’ve caught something really strong I thought. A Weedle crawled up onto my shoulder and I gently lifted him up and laid down, then I placed him on my stomach instead. He made a sound I would attribute to joy, and curled up to sleep. Many of the other bugs in the clearing followed suit, and I fell asleep amidst a sea of tiny bug type Pokémon.


	2. Bugs and Kisses -XOXO

I woke up the next morning and sat up. I let out a loooooooong yawn and stretched, bugs falling off here and there, landing on the dew covered grass with a soft bump. The Weedle that fell asleep on my chest was still there, and his beady eyes stared at me while I finished up my morning routine. I shook the grass from my hair and stood up, the Weedle crawled onto my shoulder and curled back up.  
“Hey! Good morning!” came a woman’s voice from ahead of me. I Looked at her and blinked a few times, trying to shake off the sleep. I rubbed my eyes and put my glasses on and finally got a clear look at her. I thought she was really pretty, but this is about Pokémon.  
“Uh, hey.” My voice came out in a subdued gargly sort of sound. I cleared my throat. “Hey, good morning to you too. How long have you been standing there?” I was genuinely curious, normally there isn’t much traffic that goes through this part of the region so it was kind of shocking to see someone new so close to home.  
“I got kind of lost.” She said. “I took the wrong path a few days back and it brought me way out here, I just figured I’d keep walking and see where it went. Little did I know I’d stumble upon some sort of bug prophet!” she giggled at that one, I must admit though, I don’t blame her for thinking that. I looked down at my sleeping arrangements and saw ring after ring of sleeping bugs that fanned out in all directions and almost filled the clearing. Bug I did like the sound of bug prophet, bug maniac was overrated.  
“Maybe you should just call me a bug catcher.” I said humbly, normally I’m not this nice so early.  
“I can do that.” She said “but I’d like to know your name too, I’m Tori.”  
“I’m Thomas… and I live around here.” I eyed her waist and noticed that she had a belt with pokeballs on it. She must have been a trainer.  
“Are you on a journey of you own then? Or are you just visiting home?”  
“I actually just left,” I replied. “I caught my first Pokémon last night.” That’s right! I just remembered I had something waiting in my pokeball. I pulled it from my bag and held it up to get a good look at it in the light. The shiny surface of the ball reflected the morning sun in the most spectacular way.  
“You guys might want to move,” I said to the bugs at my feet. “I’m about to let this bad boy out.” they understood what I said and moved to the edge of the clearing to watch, the Weedle moved his way behind my head and peered over my shoulder.  
“What kind of Pokémon is it?” Tori asked me.  
“I don’t know, I caught it when it was dark. I just kind of decked it with the ball and caught it.”  
“That works?” she asked, looking at her arm and flexing slightly with a bewildered look on her face.  
“apparently.” I bit my lip in anticipation, who knows what this thing could be. I looked at all my new bug friends. If they were bullied by it I figured it wouldn’t be anything that slept with me. I began counting out in my head the possibilities. No Weedles, Kriketots, Burmys, Wurmples. It couldn’t have been a cocoon or anything with wings. It couldn’t have been anything big like a Heracross or Pinsir, and Joltik would be too small. That’s when it hit me.  
“It has to be a Venipede or Skorupi!” I said excitedly, imagining the Scolipede or Drapion I’d command one day.  
“Just throw it!” she said, it was killing her as much as it was me at this point. I raised my hand high in the air and flicked it down at the ground in front of me. The ball went spinning from my grip, like a yoyo.  
“Come on out!” I said. The ball hit the ground and burst open as the red energy inside it swirled and shot out taking shape on the ground by me. He materialized painfully slow, leg by leg, but he was smaller than I thought. My smile wavered and I saw that Tori’s did too. My dreams of grandeur seemed to drift away as I saw my first Pokémon, a wimpy looking Spinarak. He cheeped loudly when he came out and turned to look at me. We stared at each other for a while. I figured all hope was lost until he came up to me and hit me with his head.  
“Youch!” I yelled, he hit me with the stinger on his head and I instantly felt the poison rush up my leg. This was the same poison as last night, but now that I knew it was a Spinarak I was amazed. His venom was way more potent than any I had ever seen in another Pokémon of its type.  
“Are you okay?” tori said, trying to muffle her laughter.  
“Yeah I’m fine.” I smiled at her and then I looked down at the Spinarak with an amazed look. He looked back with an “I told you so” look and I sat down taking care not to put pressure on my leg. One of the forest bugs brought me another berry for my sting which I graciously accepted. While I ate the Spinarak looked longingly at the berry so I took out the near empty jar of jelly I had from yesterday. I broke it open and let him eat the rest out of the pieces, which seemed to make him happy.  
“So mister bug catcher,” Tori said to me teasingly. “Let’s see just how strong that little guy is!”  
“You don’t know what you’re getting into,” I said to her, thinking of the strength of Spinarak’s venom. The feeling came back into my leg and I stood up.  
“Hey Spinarak,” I said to him after he ate the last bit of jelly. “Let’s see how strong you are.” He turned around and arched his abdomen menacingly, he looked as ready for this fight as I was.  
“You two already look like a good duo” tori said to me, sounding surprised.  
“I think it’s just because I fed him…” we both laughed and she pulled one of the balls from her belt.  
“Go Sunshine!” said tori throwing her pokeball high in the air. The air changed the moment her Pokémon appeared. It came out at the top of the balls arc and was silhouetted against the sun. it landed with the faintest of sounds and looked me in the eye. The Purple feline shape in front of me was an Espeon, a powerful psychic type. It looked me in the eye and I could see how strong it was, I knew we’d be outmatched but this is ridiculous. The Espeon sat on its haunches and flicked its tail at Spinarak, then it turned its head away. Spinarak saw this act of disrespect and chittered its mandibles angrily.  
“Are you ready to start or what?” she said.  
I gulped. “Let’s go”. “Spinarak use poison sting!” I pointed at the Espeon and Spinarak jumped and spread his jaws. Hundreds of purple needles poured form his mouth like bullets from a gun, there was no way the Espeon would be able to dodge.  
“Use psychic.” Tori said calmly. Espeon opened its eyes and looked at the cascade of needles, his eyes began to glow a faint blue and the needles began to stop when they were inches from Espeon’s face, like there was an invisible shield.  
“Now drop them and use psybeam!” Espeon nodded in approval and the poison sting needles fell to the ground. Espeon then let loose a purple beam of energy from the jewel on its forehead. The beam cut across the field faster than I could follow and before I could tell him to look out Spinarak was caught in the brunt of the attack, sending him flying, this battle was over.  
I ran underneath him and caught him before he hit the ground, his eyes were spinning but he seemed to be hanging on.  
“Sorry about that.” She said, “I got pretty excited so I guess I didn’t hold back.” Her Espeon sat silently and eyed me, it was unsettling.  
“Consider this your initiation into the world of Pokémon.” She said handing me six pokeballs and a map.  
“I should get going, though.” she said returning Espeon to its pokeball. “I got what I came here for.” She pulled out another pokeball and threw it up.  
“What do you mean by that?” I said, rather alarmed. “And why did you have all these things to give me?” Honestly it all seemed fairly convenient.  
“We’ll battle again sometime.” She said winking at me. A Flygon came out of her pokeball and she jumped into the air. It flew under her and they took off. I lost sight of them in moments.


	3. Thrills, Chills, and Drills

I sat down with Spinarak and pulled out a potion, spraying it on him until he stopped fidgeting in his sleep and looked comfortable. She was beyond strong, and losing to her really sucked. I looked at Spinarak and how hurt he had looked, I don’t want that to happen to him again. He opened his eyes and looked at me.  
“Hey little one, my names Thomas and I’m your new trainer. You and I are going to grow very strong together.” He nodded in agreement, his expression becoming very intense. He jumped from out of my lap and onto the grass in front of me. He looked back at me, as if sizing me up. He nodded like he liked what he saw and crawled up onto my head and sat there.   
“I have a good name for you, want to hear it?” he clicked twice with his jaw.  
“Naramy.” He chittered excitedly and seemed to like the name. It doesn’t really mean anything, but it feels special. From behind me I heard a faint cry.  
“WEE!”  
“Oh shit.” I said, in disbelief. I stood up and put my hand behind my back Weedle crawled onto my arm and looked at my teary eyed.  
“Well I didn’t think I’d ever feel embarrassed in front of a Pokémon.” I said realizing Weedle must have heard everything I said. The Weedle crawled onto the ground and worked his way over to the pokeballs Tori had left me, bumping one around with his horn.  
“WEEEE!”  
“I get it.” I said. I stood up and walked over to him, I felt Naramy shifting his weight around on my head. I picked up the ball and crouched by the Weedle. I gently tapped the ball against his head and it opened up swallowing him whole. I placed the ball on the ground and watched it rock. I rocked one time and stayed shut, he didn’t want to fight. I picked it up and threw the ball. It opened and Weedle came out with a triumphant cry heralding his return. The red energy of the pokeball faded and Weedle looked up at me with determination in his eyes as if to say “I want to grow strong with you guys too!” or something like that, idk I don’t speak Pokémon. I nodded my head at him and suddenly he burst into a blinding flash of light. The woods around me exploded into white and I fell back in surprise, Weedle was evolving.   
When the light faded and I stopped seeing spots I looked to where Weedle used to be. Sure enough a golden hued Kakuna sat in his place wearing no particular expression.   
“Damn” I said, “that was kind of cool,” Kakuna plopped over onto his side and remained still. I walked over to retrieve him and picked him up. I held him out in front of me, he stared back with those beady Kakuna eyes. I could see the life in there, and its unsettling reflection. What horror must be contained within that carapace, writhing, liquidated, nastiness… slowly shaping itself into a giant nightmare man bee from hell, with drills for hands and a bad attitude. Resisting the urge to name him Mr. Snuggles, I decided on a name more fitting of my armored companion. “Yamato,” I said to him, he made a Kakuna face.  
Now that my collecting and naming moment was over I settled Yamato in my backpack and put it on. With my Backpackuna and Spinahat on we forged onward, the edge of the forest in sight.  
As the forest slowly gave way to shorter and shorter shrubbery, the sun moved closer and closer to its apex. By the time noon arrived we were well beyond to borders of the woods we emerged from. I looked back along the winding dirt road, and over the forest loomed a dark mass of clouds. It was still a ways off, but I didn’t fancy getting rained on today. I turned back towards the road ahead and trudged onward.   
After another hour or so of walking I spotted a lone tree in the distance, it seemed like a good enough place as any to stop for a break. I walked on the path for a little while longer and eventually changed course, stepping into the longer grasses that grew by the roadside. As the tree grew nearer a Spearow suddenly flew out of the grass a ways ahead of me, it eyed me as it slowly circled our position.  
“You see him Naramy?” I said quietly following the Spearow’s lazy circles with my eyes. I could feel his legs tense against the sides of my head, he was ready for some action. I kept walking forward slowly as the Spearow’s circles grew tighter and tighter over us until he was out of sight. When I lost track of him I took a knee and peered up towards the sun. it was eerily quiet as I raised my hand to shade my eyes from the sun. Then I saw him, he was using a smart tactic, diving out of the sun to try and catch us off guard. The speck continued to grow however, larger and larger, something wasn’t right. The now VERY large shadow got too close for comfort and I dove out of the way, desperately trying to evade whatever it was that was attacking us. The Pokémon swooped right over the top of the grass and its slipstream rustled the grass and lifted dust from the ground, Kakuna fell from my pack and landed on the ground with a thud, Naramy was still firmly grasping my head as I rose to my feet. A Fearow flew away from us and slowly arced back up into the sky, it turned into a lazy loop and when it was directly over our heads began its descent for another attack.   
“Here he comes again, Naramy,” he chirped excitedly, obviously unafraid of this large avian predator dive-bombing us. I waited for him to get close, close enough where he couldn’t dodge one of Naramy’s attacks. The Fearow continued to dive until it was about 20 feet off the ground  
“Now Naramy! Poison sting!” Poison needles erupted from his mandibles in a cone towards the sky, Fearow had no room to maneuver and took the brunt of the attack. He let out a squawk of pain and peeled off, trailing smoke from the attack’s blast. It stopped several yards ahead of us and let out a loud cry, I held my hands over my ears, and I could feel Naramy shudder in discomfort.   
All around us Spearow burst from the grass, flying strait up into the air, we were surrounded. The Spearow began to circle in a large ball of feathers, and we were in the center. The Fearow flew out of the mass and I lost sight of him.   
“We’re going to need some anti-aircraft fire little one,” I said to Naramy, he started to track a target. I turned for him so he could focus on his aim, when suddenly I felt a jab of pain from my back, I fell to my knees as a Spearow, squawked tauntingly at us and flew back into position. The dome of birds slowly grew smaller as Spearow dove towards us and then returned to the mob, we were running out of room and Naramy couldn’t get a fix on anything.  
After taking a few more hits from the small frys I figured out something that might work  
“Naramy, we won’t be able to knock them all out but we can at least stop them from moving.”  
Suddenly he started spraying his web out towards the birds. It connected with one and several more flew through the stream, effectively immobilizing 5 or 6 of them; they plummeted to the ground.   
“This will work,” I said “keep spraying!” I picked him off my head and held him out in from of me like a weapon. I spun in the opposite direction the mob was moving as more and more Spearow got tangled in Naramy’s web. Fearow let out a desperate cry, he must have noticed he was running out of soldiers. The Spearow all changed course and dove for me at once  
“Switch to poison sting Naramy!” the web changed in an instant to the glowing purple needles I was coming to love. I turned and pointed Naramy at the targets, letting him send off small bursts at the oncoming assailants, taking them out one by one. When the Spearow were all cleared out I looked nervously for the Fearow, knowing his time was up. My eyes instantly went skyward but a chill ran up my spine when a furious shriek came from behind me, I turned my head just in time to see a large pink beak tearing towards me and a blistering pace, followed by rage filled eyes and a whole lot of bird. There was no avoiding this one, I hugged Naramy to my chest and tensed us waiting for impact, this was definitely going to hurt.   
Fearow was right on top of me when something Black and Yellow intercepted it, my surprise only mirrored by the Fearow getting nailed by it. Yamato bore his drills into the Fearow’s breast, the only thing louder than the buzzing was the cry of pain from Fearow. Yamato pushed through his attack and launched Fearow off into the grass. For a moment all I could hear was the loud buzzing of Yamato’s wings, but after a painfully long moment of anticipation, the Fearow peeked its head out of the grass. He looked at me and limped towards me. Naramy was breathing heavily in my arms, and Yamato hovered between us. The Fearow stopped several feet from Yamato, and let out a short chirp. He then spread his wings and rose into the air, landing on as low hanging branch of the tree. He eyed me from there, but I think he wasn’t looking for any more trouble.   
“Holy shit,” exasperated by what had transpired I collapsed. I sat in the dirt and let Naramy out of my arms, he crawled in front of me and looked at me, eyes wide with excitement. Yamato landed next to him, buzzing his wings softly. Then it hit me  
“Yamato, what the fuck?!?! Weedle to Beedrill in like 3 hours?” he shrugged, and buzzed at me as if to say “takes like 5 minutes in game dude.”   
“”you saved us nonetheless, thank you.” I said, still shaken by the fact that freakish bird almost impaled Naramy and I. he buzzed confidently and began shadow boxing, obviously understanding the gravity of what just happened, he knew he was the hero of the day.


	4. Desert Flower - A Sandwich of Kindness!

We sat there for a minute so we could calm down, some of the Spearow started to come to and flapped their way into the tree, the air wasn’t as tense as before and I could see Naramy and Yamato relax some. I pulled out the leftover bread from yesterday and spread what was left of the cheese on it, I took a bite and my companions eyed it enviously.   
“I’m sorry guys, I don’t have anything for you at the moment,” I felt bad, but hey, I was hungry too. I took another bite and the look they gave me was enough to make me stop. “Alright, alright. We starve together.” I stood up and tossed the bread towards Fearow. He let out a surprised squawk, but caught it with his beak before it hit him. He laid it on the branch and began pecking at it, I guess he was hungry too, and we robbed him of his buggy snack. When he finished he gave me one last look, and took off; “I think we’re cool now.” I said. The Spearow that had regained consciousness hopped down from the tree and started pecking at the ground, looking for grubs. I stood up to leave, Naramy climbed back onto my head and Yamato hovered lazily behind me. We walked back towards the road.  
I climbed back onto the beaten path and we continued onward, climbing to the top of a ridge ahead of me. When we reached the top I could see Aegis city in the far distance, deep in the belly of the desert. The path wound down to the edge of the sand and a bridge extended all the way to the gates. The grasses by the path grew shorter the closer we got to Aegis, and the heat grew slowly more intense. As the grass gave way to dunes of sand, the path turned from dirt to stone, and we approached the gateway to the city. A great stone stairway rose from the edge of the desert, and we climbed to the top, shaded by the archways covering it. When we reached top of the bridge, I could see several merchants along the sides peddling goods to the rare passersby. It was nearer the middle of nowhere but I was somewhere nonetheless. I walked down the bridge until I found someone selling clothing.   
“You’re going to want this” he said, pointing to a rather drab, olive colored cloak. “Come rain or shine, it’ll protect you from the weather. Can’t adventure if you can’t handle ol’ Mother Nature.” He looked at me with a sly grin, he had a point and he knew it, at the very least I’d need it to save myself from the sunburn I was getting.  
“Aight,” I pulled out the pouch I had my money in, careful not to rustle the coins inside “how much are you askin?” his grin grew wider, he seemed very certain he had a sale.  
“500 , and I’ll even throw in a hat and some goggles… for the sand.” I was expecting a lot more, but the price tag hurt me nonetheless. I wouldn’t have enough money to feed myself at this rate, and Naramy and Yamato were hungry too. I looked down the bridge to see the other peddlers, a few had some business, but customer wise I’d say I was one of 5 or 6.   
“You throw a hard bargain, man, but I can’t eat with a price like that.” His smile wavered, and he nervously looked from side to side, this was the only sale he’d probably make today. “If you give me some wiggle room on the price, I’ll take it and we can go our separate ways, how’s 400 sound?” a look of disgust came across his face.  
“Cheap, I gotta eat too kid.” He ground his teeth, but he knew there wasn’t exactly a line to check-out. “425 and you leave.” I handed him the money and he handed me the clothes. The material was scratchy and thin, but it felt tough, I threw it on over my pack. I tucked the hat and googles under my arm and walked on, I could hear him counting the money behind me. The bridge stretched on ahead of me.   
“Ok Naramy, I think it’s time you and Yamato take a little break.” Yamato landed and tapped his drill against the button on his pokeball, getting sucked inside by the red glow. Naramy let out a soft cry of protest when I picked him up off my head and I placed him on the ground. “Sorry little one, but my neck aint used to carrying around the extra weight.” I took the second pokeball from my belt and returned him to it. After he was away I started rolling my neck, trying to loosen it up some. After a quick stretch and breather I slapped my hat on my head and continued my walk. Through the waves of heat ahead of me I could finally make out the shaped of a tall structure in the distance, it must be the wall for which Aegis city was named.  
As I approached the city (and the heart of the desert) the sheer size of it had me in awe. The bridge was already fairly tall, and the city walls towered even higher. Along the outside of it the life of the dessert congregated. The dunes slowly gave was to more solid ground; Cacnea and Cacturne sat immobile in squads, a stark contrast to the Maractus dancing about. Between them all swirled sand and gravel as different critters dug through the ground. You could see the eyes of Sandiles and its relatives poking up looking for a meal, and Baltoy spinning around. When I reached the gate, I walked up to the guard post.  
“Howdy traveler,” a skinny old man in dusty rags greeted me. His eyes were hidden behind his sunglasses but his thin lips peeled back to reveal and assortment of white, missing, and gold teeth.   
“We don’t get much traffic through this gate, what kind of business you have in our lovely oasis?”  
“I’m looking for your league gym,” I answered “There is one in this city still right?”  
“Yes my boy, it’s still here, management has changed though.” He leaned over his desk and looked me up and down, then beckoned me closer. “The league decided ol’ Shale was getting too old to represent the Pokémon league. All the young blood was too ready for change to keep around some old timer, so they hired his Grandson, Dusty”  
“He must be fairly talented to knock Shale out of his spot.” I said.  
“So you’ve heard of him eh? I thought young people weren’t interested in him anymore.”  
“No sir! My dad used to talk about Shale all the time, they were very good friends apparently. But he always said Shale was Strong.”  
“And who might your daddy be then, lad?”  
“His name is Wayne… know him?”  
“no.” he licked his lips a few times and leaned back. “Why don’t you come inside for a bit, we’ll talk some more over lunch?” He disappeared into the building and I heard his footsteps fade. A few moments later a door closer to the gate opened and he waved me over. I walked under the shadow of the large wall and approached the door.  
“Make sure you shake off the sand, don’t want that stuff on any of the furniture.” I took off my cloak and shook it off, the man took it and hung it on a rack inside. I took off my hat and smacked it a few times, then tucked it under my arm and walked in. the man had walked into another room, so I stomped out my boots in the doorway and shut the door behind me.   
He walked back into the room with a tray of little sandwiches and a pitcher of water, I’d also like to add he was wearing a cute little white apron with a pink Luvdisc in the center.  
“That’s a good look for you,” I said chuckling.  
“It was a gift from my wife, you never know when she might be watching, and I sure as heck won’t be caught in another apron.” We laughed and sat down at a table in the corner of the room. After a few moments of silent eating it hit me, and I jumped up.  
“My Pokémon are starving to death!” I thought about their little tummies rumbling, eyes wide, begging me for even the tiniest scrap of food. “I gotta go get them something right away, they’ll never forgive me for eating without them.”  
“Relax child, I’ve got some food for Pokémon in the kitchen. I’ll be right back.”   
“Oh thank you so much. You’re a life saver.” He smiled and disappeared back into the kitchen. I took the poke balls from my belt and released Yamato and Naramy from their prisons. Naramy sat patiently on the floor and waited, but Yamato was pissed. He pointed his stingers at me threateningly and a chill ran down my back, those things were big.   
“Here you go little ones” The man came back just in time to save me from being gutted by Yamato. Naramy let out a chirp of joy and dug into the bowl of food he’d been given. Yamato’s mood instantly changed and he zipped onto the floor to begin eating as well.  
“Dang you really saved me, sir.” I said, embarrassed.  
“It’s ok lad, just don’t forget you got a family to feed now.” We continued our meal in silence.  
After we finished eating I helped him clean up and then got ready to go. I returned Yamato to his ball and Naramy climbed onto my head. We walked out the door and the man opened the gate from the guard booth. The gargantuan doors swung slowly open without making a sound. I walked up to the both to say good bye.   
“Thanks for everything sir, I haven’t eaten lunch with another human being in quite some time.”   
“Don’t mention it lad. But before you go let me tell you about the big festival starting tonight.”  
“Party? That sounds fun.” I was surprised to hear there was some sort of festival happening, “what’s the occasion?”  
“Mahrajan Almawt” he said with a surprisingly ominous tone, “a festival to celebrate the cycle of death that plagues our mortal coil. The dead walk among the living and everyone is reminded that death finds us all someday.”   
“…oh.” I had the fakest smile I could muster. “How… interesting.”  
“Relax kid, it aint like that at all.” He laughed. “We’re just remembering our loved ones and throwing them a party, you just need to get a mask before tonight.”  
“A mask?”  
“Yeah, all the vendors are selling them for the festival, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding them. You need it so a spirit doesn’t figure out you’re living and steal your soul from your body.” He smiled and waved me away, cackling.  
“well thanks for telling me at least,” I smiled weakly, “and thanks for feeding us, is there any way I can repay you?” he sat back and put his hand on his chin, he was clearly in deep thought.  
“Sure, I know what you can do.” He grinned widely. “Defeat the gym leader, my grandson, knock that runt off his high horse for me.”   
“Got it!” I nodded, “he’s as good as done.”   
“Good luck lad.” He waved good bye as I walked through the gate. It began to close behind me.  
“Wait!” I said, my eyes were wide with revelation. I whipped around just before the gate closed, “if the gym leader is your grandson, then you’re…!” his gold teeth sparkled as he smiled.  
“Wayne is waiting for you to find him” he yelled to me. Then the gate closed. I stood staring at it for a moment then clenched my fist.


	5. "Buzz Buzz" - Ballad of a Beedrill

After having the gate close in my face, I turned to continue into town. I strolled into the bazaar and was immediately assaulted by the sights and sounds of it. Merchants here and there advertising their wares and trying to draw in people of the streets. I walked around grabbing the necessitates (some food, water, potions) and once i had all that squared away, I gathered my remaining money and decided to search for one of those fancy masks.

One vendor in particular caught my eye, his booth covered in masks of all shapes and sizes resembling Pokémon; I approached him.  
"Oh hello sir, looking for a mask for tonight?" he slowly nodded with me in a really pretentious way "of course you are! And you came to the right place." the man’s voice was very misleading, he sounded very young for someone so, well, old. I didn't want to be rude and stare though, so i tore my eyes off his odd looking beard and gazed around his wares. There was a nice Gyarados one, but my eyes settled on a more chill one resembling a Snorunt. "You don't look like you're from around here, bruh... just roll in?"  
"Oh, yeah. Just came in from the west gate" i pointed off in the general direction. "There was a man at the gate who let me in and told me about all this stuff."

"That’s weird...." his hand disappeared behind his beard and I’m pretty sure he scratched his chin. “We don't have gate guards on holidays. Did you catch his name?"

"Apparently it was Shale, but I don't know if tha-"

"A friend of our beloved Shale you say?! Well, surely you deserve to look at my more authentic masks." he dug into the back of his little stand. "These are only out here to draw in tourists, but if you know Shale you deserve the good stuff."

"Thanks but I don't really have much money left." I jingled my coin purse and the sound was pitiful.

"Bruh, no trouble at all, everybody who lives here makes their own masks, so really these thing lay around after a year of use. You’re doing me a favor by taking it." he pulled out a ovular one with a plain face, it appeared plated in gold. "Here’s the good stuff, this way nobody'll give you any funky looks." he placed it in my hand and looked around at the other shoppers. "Now go, enjoy the festival." I thanked him and walked off, after I got a ways away I could hear a child's laughter ring out over the noise of the crowd. I tucked the mask into my clothes and continued towards the center of town.  
As I got closer to the fountain at the middle of town, I could hear cheering and the cries of Pokémon, I pushed through the crowd until I broke through and found what appeared to be a heated battle. a guy in funny purple clothes with a red cape was taking on a serious looking woman in a white lab coat. The woman’s Magneton was squaring off with the man’s Druddigon. Magneton was keeping the dragon at a distance while Druddigon bobbed and weaved around its attacks looking for an opening to strike. The woman stopped giving Magneton orders for a moment and the waves of attacks stopped. She smiled when the man took the bait.  
“Now Druddigon, use Focus Punch!” the Druddigon charged in and began winding up its arm.

“Way to make it easy you fool!” she smirked and pointed at Druddigon “use Hyper Beam magneton, go!” the magneton started spinning and its magnets converged on the center of it, a blue beam fired at an upward towards the dragon.  
“Blast through it Druddigon! Use your power!” the man started jumping up and down frantically. The Druddigon swung its first forward and it started cleaving through the hyper beam. He got about half of the way there when the beam petered out and Druddigon fell, eyes forming little spirals.   
With the match decided the man walked sullenly towards the woman and returned Druddigon to his ball. He gave her some money and disappeared into the crowd. She held up her hand in victory and got some cheers, then disappeared into the crowd as well with her Pokémon. A man stepped onto the side of the fountain with a megaphone.  
“Who’s next?!” his voice came through staticy but very loud. The people of the crowd looked around, some people egging on their friends to step up to the plate. I felt a very large hand on my shoulder and heard a gruff voice behind me.  
“Right here” the people around me stepped aside and the hand moved to my shoulders. I was pushed forward into the opening. I stood out there shocked, and I turned to see a large man in a leather jacket stepping to the opposite end of the circle, he had a menacing smile and small beady eyes. The announcer looked at me confused and came over.   
“You sure you want to do this?” he sounded nervous. I looked over at the cue ball and he was slicing at his throat with his finger and mouthing to me “let’s go.” I looked back to the announcer and said  
“Yeah, let’s do it.” I gave him a weak smile.   
“Well… good luck.” He walked back to the fountain. “You all know the rules, loser pays out 500, one on one Pokémon match, TKOs only. I didn’t even have that much money left, but I wasn’t gonna let this guy think he scared me. I raised my hand and tossed a pokeball down at the ground.  
“Go Yamato!” he popped out and hovered above the ground, ready to work. I heard laughs from the crowd.  
“You don’t know who you’re dealing with do you?” the cue ball guy said to me from across the arena. Other people with black jackets became visible from inside the crowd.  
“Kick his ass boss!” “You better be scared little man.” And “give him hell chief” all rose from the crowd as his gang hooted and hollered.   
The leader continued. “You’re gonna take on the Pumpkin Head Gang here guy, I hope you’re prepared. After hearing their name I tried to stifle a laugh, meanwhile Yamato became enraged at their taunting. The thugs in the crowd pushed the bystanders back to make the circle larger. “Alright Steelix lets squash these bugs.” He threw out his ball and a Steelix landed on the stone, shaking the ground.  
Yamato turned to me, red eyes aglow. “We got this shit, man.” I furrowed my brow and raised my fist, Yamato raised his drill in response. “Fast and low buddy.” He turned and rubbed his drills together. The announcer swing his hand down in a chop in front of him.  
“Begin!”  
The Steelix immediately swung its tail at Yamato, Yamato was able to twirl out of the way though, and took off into the sky.   
“Don’t slow down for a second Yamato, try to stay evading and take shots when you find openings.”   
“Rock Tomb Steelix!” the Steelix roared and stone tablets making up the pavement were lifted from the ground and thrown skyward. Yamato danced around them with ease and they fell into the fountain water while Yamato dove to the deck. He got around to the back of Steelix’s head and began striking but to no avail.  
“You can’t punch through my steel type with your little bug! End it with sandstorm Steelix!” Steelix straightened out to be nearly vertical and its segments began spinning, whipping up the sand that was hidden under the sidewalk. Yamato was whipped up into the sky. I squinted and looked up into the sun, I could see a spec sitting up there and I heard the Cue ball holler from his side   
“You got nothing boy, where’s my money!?   
“Yamato! Fly down the middle and spin with the sandstorm! Hit him like a drill!” the Cue ball covered his eyes from the sun and looked up, perplexed.   
“use rock tomb again Steelix, send them straight up!” stones began hurling at Yamato but his spin was too fast, he became a glowing drill shooting strait down at Steelix, blasting through the rocks in his way. I heard someone behind me shout “nice drill run Beedrill!” Yamato connected with the top of Steelix’s head and then his jaw hit the ground, pinned by the force of Beedrill’s Drill run attack. The sandstorm stopped instantly and the debris fell to the ground around the arena. “Yeah keep it up buddy!”  
“Get up Steelix, what are you doing?!?!” the Cue ball’s voice was distressed and his face was suddenly filled with worry. Yamato didn’t let up though, and continued boring into Steelix’s skull, shoving it farther into the ground. The Steelix thrashed about some with its tail but it slowed to a stop after a while. Yamato let up and resorted to striking Steelix on the head with Twinneedle, he eventually got tired and hovered back to my side. The Announcer was shocked.   
“With a brutal victory over the Gang leader, Mavis, we have our winner!” he walked over to me and held up my hand. “What’s your name, guy?” he whispered out of the corner of his mouth. Told him. “Thomas and his Beedrill, Yamato!” cheers rose from the crowd praising us for shutting down the gang’s leader. One of the lesser thugs walked over and put a bag of coins in my hand.  
“Hardcore dude.” He turned and hurried back to his gang and the disappeared into the crowd.   
“Now!” the announcer turned back to the ruined courtyard and the people surrounding it, “Who’s next?” the crowd collectively blew raspberries at the announcer and dispersed. I joined them and headed towards the Pokémon Center.


End file.
